I doubt anyone has safety as a goal in writing these powder regs. Out here in the west anyway, the powers that be are looking to keep things from getting too modern by prohibiting nitro (smokeless powders) during muzzy seasons.
I don’t believe any of the subs have nitrocellulose besides BH209.
There was a fight when Bh209 came out as to whether or not it was a “smokeless powder” (and thus prohibited in several states) or not. Most of not all of the states I hunt out here now allow it.
Thanks, ElDiablo,
As I recall, Pyrodex was developed as a "smokeless powder" and then "smoke" was added. Think it was the same, I think, with Triple7, and likely others, yet perhaps they didn't have nitrocellulose in them.
Some years ago when BH 209 was pretty new, the head ballistician at Western Powders recommended BH 209 to me to load for an 1886-manufactured Winchester'86 in .45-90 chambering, rather than 5744 smokeless powder, which is often used like a modern version of old time Unique smokeless powder, because 5744 is so versatile across a wide range of pistol, rifle and shotgun cartridges. That advice was given, he said, because 5744 can have pressure spikes in such cartridges and I was better off - and safer - using BH 209. I got amazing accuracy from that old cartridge gun using BH 209.
Further, I was able to talk at length to the senior gunsmith/technician at Western Powders about BH 209 and told me he and his team had spent 3 years developing BH 209 specifically for use as a direct BP substitute, aiming for an extremely similar pressure curve at firing when using the BP equivalency load by either volume or weighing. I've researched and found graphic evidence of pressure comparisons and that is indeed correct for BP pressure vs BH 209 pressure at firing. Triple-7, on the other hand can have peak pressure at firing that is significantly higher and I sure would advise people not to use Triple-7 in old guns made prior to the advent of modern-steel barrels.
So many ML and other "BP Cartridge" shooters haven't a clue about peak pressure a firing (that's the mili-seconds after ignition, and the highest pressure as the projectile starts to move and then goes on down the barrel), and it is quite important about how the bullet base is effected, the barrel is effected, and whether the bullet or ball will expand at firing (obturate) so as to take the rifling fully and seal the bore against gas erosion and leading. Smokeless powder pressure curves are not as high at the beginning yet continue as the bullet moves on down the barrel, and thus smokeless powders fail to adequately obturate bullets fired in revolver cylinders, for example, and accuracy suffers plus bore leading occurs. BP and BH 209 pressures, as well as other BP subsitutes, rise quickly and then drop swiftly too, compared to most smokeless powders, because they have BPs pressure curve to a degree, or markedly like BH 209 does.
One key factor, tho, is the risk of excess pressure, or unexpected pressure spikes, when using the many, many versions of smokeless powder. Hence, the appearance of modern MLs with high-end steel barrels that can handle such smokeless powder pressures and high peaks, the same as modern cartridge rifle can. There is one heckuva difference between old-time BP pressures of around 8,000 psi (shotguns) and rifles (as much as 28,000 psi in an 1875 .450 X 3 1/4" Black Powder Express Cartridge -- versus 42,000 to about 62,000 psi in modern center fire rifle cartridges!
Aloha, Ka'imiloa
